{WARNING: MAY CONTAIN FOOD PUNS}
...Man.
The sun's starting to set, and all I've got to my name is pocket change and a bag of soggy chicken nuggets.
"Hey," I turned to the boy next to me, with hair spikier than Kn*ckles the Echidna. "'Jello'! It's v...
I did not doubt her abilities, especially after witnessing them firsthand myself.
Well ain't this a darned doodle-dough-doorknob.
I probably can't even tell you what the judges said, nor Megumi.
The mere prospect of losing my hard-earned spot past the preliminaries was enough to leave me dumbfounded, and I continued to stare blankly at the girl before me.
"MEGUMIII!!!" It wasn't until a crowd of beefy, burly fishermen roared from the stands and waved a large flag that I snapped back to reality.
"S-sorr–" I stumbled to the side to allow her to rush towards the men.
My head was still a bit jumbled from surprise, but as I watched Megumi converse excitedly with the large men, I felt my conflicted feelings begin to simmer down and settle.
"All right then, Candidate Tadokoro, please hurry!" The hostess ordered.
The fishermen gave her one last shout of encouragement before she rushed back up to the stage. I'd since returned to my station where I nervously fiddled with my wristwatch as Megumi introduced her dish.
The judging occurred faster than I expected, though the result was still unrevealed. The numbers then flashed one by one, earning shouts from Megumi's hometown in response.
'17
17
16'
"What?! How can Megumi's dish only score in the teens?!" One man raged at the sight of the first three scores.
"Good job, Megumi!" Another hollered.
The strict blonde judge from before entered the fourth score out of five:
'19'
I felt a rumble begin to build in my stomach, and my eyes unintentionally locked with Akahoshi's.
The woman smirked like Humpty Dumpty from Dreamworks' 2011 Puss in Boots movie (not a sponsor).
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'20'
The crowd screamed at the sight of the last number, especially given how it was the first perfect score in the entire Block.
The final score presented itself.
'89'
"Candidate Tadokoro Megumi has 89 points, surpassing Candidate Homura by 1 point! She's in fourth place! She passed the preliminaries!" Urara squealed in disbelief, and the crowd joined collectively.
